Home Solar Panel Installations in Connecticut – Elite Solar Proshttps://elitesolarpros.com Low Cost Home Solar Panels with Installation in CT ResidencesMon, 02 Dec 2019 20:01:31 +0000en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.4https://elitesolarpros.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cropped-23533-7-sun-transparent-image-32x32.pngHome Solar Panel Installations in Connecticut – Elite Solar Proshttps://elitesolarpros.com 3232160681903Why You Should Go Solar for Your Homehttps://elitesolarpros.com/2019/12/30/why-you-should-go-solar-for-your-home/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-you-should-go-solar-for-your-home https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/12/30/why-you-should-go-solar-for-your-home/#respondMon, 30 Dec 2019 11:00:58 +0000https://elitesolarpros.com/?p=740Over the past few years, we’ve heard more and more about climate change and the effect that it is having on the world around us. People are scrambling to find a way that they can decrease their impact, one of which is adding solar panels to their homes. In Connecticut as of 2017, nearly 23,000 […]

]]>Over the past few years, we’ve heard more and more about climate change and the effect that it is having on the world around us. People are scrambling to find a way that they can decrease their impact, one of which is adding solar panels to their homes. In Connecticut as of 2017, nearly 23,000 homes had installed solar panels and that number has been growing rapidly ever since. Whether you want to add them to your home to help reduce your environmental impact or because you’re hoping that they can help you save money, we’re going to review the biggest reasons that you should go solar!

The first reason is one that we’ve already reviewed. Adding solar panels to your home is a great way to be conscious about the effect that you have on the environment. Unlike other forms of energy, solar power does not produce greenhouse gases, air or water pollution. You can reduce your carbon footprint while also reducing your energy bill. Your solar panel system can help get rid of 3-4 tons of carbon emissions in just one year.

Another good reason to go solar is so that you can reduce your electric bill (generally by a noticeable amount). On average in Connecticut, homes are able to save $11,000 over the course of a 20-year agreement, based on an estimate made by Project Solar by Google. In some states, you’re also able to avoid the constant increase to the amount that you’re paying from the utility company. Imagine what you could do with thousands of dollars extra!

When you get solar panels for your home, you get a huge return on your investment. Solar panels are one way of making your money back ten-fold. When you purchase solar panels, you’re able to save way more than they would have cost in the first place, allowing you to (once again) save money in the long run.

Lastly (for our list), solar panels will increase the value of your home. Despite popular rumors, solar panels will actually increase the value of your home when you go to sell it. Crazy right? This is because so many people are looking for homes that have solar panels, both for environmental reasons, along with the benefit that they’re going to be able to save money themselves. Solar panels are a sure-fire way of reducing the cost of ownership, which is why so many people have decided to make the switch.

Overall, these are just some of the biggest reasons why you should go solar and install your own panels on your home. You can join a community of people who want to reduce their carbon footprint on the world while also saving themselves money in the process. There’s generally very few reasons why you shouldn’t go solar, and if something that you’ve been thinking about for a long time, now is your chance to take the leap and get started on setting up your very own solar panels for your home.

]]>https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/12/30/why-you-should-go-solar-for-your-home/feed/0740The 5 Best Questions to Ask Before Going Solarhttps://elitesolarpros.com/2019/12/09/the-5-best-questions-to-ask-before-going-solar/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-5-best-questions-to-ask-before-going-solar https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/12/09/the-5-best-questions-to-ask-before-going-solar/#respondMon, 09 Dec 2019 11:00:52 +0000https://elitesolarpros.com/?p=741Blog Title – The 5 Best Questions to Ask Before Going Solar These days it seems like solar panels are everywhere. They’re going up in fields, on big buildings, and even on personal homes. Chances are you’ve seen one or two articles convincing you that solar power would be able to save you money in […]

These days it seems like solar panels are everywhere. They’re going up in fields, on big buildings, and even on personal homes. Chances are you’ve seen one or two articles convincing you that solar power would be able to save you money in the long run. With their ever-growing popularity, how can you tell if solar panels are right for your home? What are the questions that you should be asking before you sign up? We’re going to be breaking down all the questions that you may have and that you should ask your sales rep.

Question #1: Where can the panels be installed on my roof?

There is a ton of misinformation out there about how solar panels are going to decrease the value of your property because they have to be placed in the front of the house, but this isn’t true. Not only do solar panels increase the amount you can ask for when you go to sell, but each house will have a unique placement depending on the type of roof, the angle of the slant, and various other factors. This is something that you can ask the company before you get them installed, so you can have a good idea of where they’ll be placed.

Question #2: Do you offer leases, loans, or a power purchase agreement?

Before you take out a large loan or go into debt to purchase your solar panels, it’s smart to ask if they have any other options. At Elite Energy Consultants, we offer a power purchase agreement that will reduce the cost of the solar panels. This is one way that you can get the solar panels at little to no cost to yourself, while also paying lower rates for electricity than you would through the electric company. There’s no harm in asking!

Question #3: What incentives are available in my state?

This is another great money-saving questions to ask, because a lot of states have some form of incentive that they offer for people going solar. In Connecticut, there are 77 different policies and incentives that you could potentially use to help lower the cost of electricity or the cost of the solar panels themselves.

Question #4: Would I be able to do net metering in my state?

Currently, there are 38 states that allow you net meter any extra electricity that is created by your solar panels. This means that in the spring and summer months, if you make more electricity than you use, the electric company will turn back your meter. When the winter months come around and the solar panels aren’t covering all the energy that you need, the electricity that was stored up will be returned to the home for free. If you live in a state that does net metering, this is just another good reason to add solar panels to your home!

Question #5: How much can I save on my electric bill each month?

This question is one that is going to vary from company to company and from state to state, so unfortunately we can’t give a good answer here. This is something that you should definitely talk to your solar panel company about! Most people are able to save a large amount of money over the lifetime of their solar panels when compared to how much they would spend with the utility companies.

If there are any questions that are holding you back from going solar, the best thing that you can do is ask a local company all about them. We try our best to answered as fully and honestly as possible because we are passionate about the environment and helping as many people go solar as we can.

]]>https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/12/09/the-5-best-questions-to-ask-before-going-solar/feed/0741Solar Agriculture has a bright futurehttps://elitesolarpros.com/2019/10/12/solar-agriculture-has-a-bright-future/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=solar-agriculture-has-a-bright-future https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/10/12/solar-agriculture-has-a-bright-future/#respondSat, 12 Oct 2019 14:49:20 +0000https://elitesolar.wpengine.com/?p=719At first glance, you might not think solar power mixes well with agriculture. After all, wouldn’t the plants and the panels both be competing for the same solar resources? As it turns out, the answer isn’t that simple. Researchers in Utah and Oregon, as well as another research team at the University of Arizona, have […]

]]>At first glance, you might not think solar power mixes well with agriculture. After all, wouldn’t the plants and the panels both be competing for the same solar resources? As it turns out, the answer isn’t that simple.

Researchers in Utah and Oregon, as well as another research team at the University of Arizona, have published papers showing that food farms make great locations for solar panel arrays. Photovoltaic panels operate best in certain conditions, the most obvious being abundant sunlight. Temperature is also an important factor, since the panels start to lose efficiency above 78°F. With the light wind and low humidity that’s often associated with land covered in crops and grass, agricultural areas have the perfect combination of environmental factors for solar panels.

Many food crops also benefit from this arrangement as well. Excessive sunlight can actually be bad for plants, which require some amount of shade and can burn in the sun. In the study at the University of Arizona, the areas where crops were planted around the panels stayed cooler during the day and warmer at night. Not only that, but the temperature of the panels stayed an incredible 9ºC cooler during the day. The air was also less dry, and the soil dried out less quickly between waterings. Nearly all of the crops used in the test saw a noticeable increase in the amount of crop produced, an increase in water-use efficiency, or an improvement in CO2 uptake.

This new concept of combining agriculture with solar power has been termed “agrivoltaics” and it’s making big waves in the solar industry. The idea of combining solar farms with food farms opens up a tremendous area for implementing solar power. Farmers could see increased efficiency in their food production and save water, as well as provide their own power or even make money through a solar lease.

We can’t wait to see where this technology goes. What are your thoughts about agrivoltaics? Let us know down in the comments!

]]>https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/10/12/solar-agriculture-has-a-bright-future/feed/0719Branford Celebrates Solar Farmhttps://elitesolarpros.com/2019/10/08/branford-celebrates-solar-farm/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=branford-celebrates-solar-farm https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/10/08/branford-celebrates-solar-farm/#respondTue, 08 Oct 2019 16:57:53 +0000https://elitesolar.wpengine.com/?p=712Right here in Connecticut the town of Branford is celebrating the first anniversary of the activation of their 4.5 acre solar array. The solar array was created through a power purchase agreement between the town and the Tesla power company. Tesla constructed the system and is responsible for operating and maintaining the solar farm, while […]

]]>Right here in Connecticut the town of Branford is celebrating the first anniversary of the activation of their 4.5 acre solar array. The solar array was created through a power purchase agreement between the town and the Tesla power company. Tesla constructed the system and is responsible for operating and maintaining the solar farm, while the town provided the land the facility is built on. Tesla sells the power to the town at a discounted rate, and there was no financial investment on the town’s behalf. As always, solar power is a great deal!

This particular array consists of more than 4,000 computer-guided panels. These smart pv panels achieve maximum efficiency by tracking the sun as it moves across the sky. In just one year of operating, this relatively small solar array produced more than 1.24 million kilowatt-hours of energy. That’s enough to power 125 homes for the whole year!

In 2019, the town created the Clean Energy Ad Hoc Committee. This new committee is responsible for guiding town policy on matters related to clean energy, and looking for ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With the Clean Energy Ad Hoc Committee’s guidance, the town is also working on implementing other clean energy initiatives. This includes a major town building energy conservation project and the purchasing of electric cars for the town fleet. They’re even developing a program to make high efficiency air source heat pumps more available for residential homes.

Clean energy is a movement, and here at Elite we’re proud to be a part of it! How is your town moving towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions? Are you doing anything to move towards a carbon-free future? Let us know in the comments!

]]>https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/10/08/branford-celebrates-solar-farm/feed/0712New Solar Farm in Norwich NYhttps://elitesolarpros.com/2019/07/08/solar-farm-norwich-ny/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=solar-farm-norwich-ny https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/07/08/solar-farm-norwich-ny/#respondMon, 08 Jul 2019 15:01:06 +0000https://elitesolar.wpengine.com/?p=706Norwich was able to begin one of the largest community solar Project in New York state last week with the appointment of a local construction firm. The project will see 52,569 installed over the next six to nine months. It is projected that the solar farm will produce roughly 20 million kilowatt hours of electricity […]

]]>Norwich was able to begin one of the largest community solar Project in New York state last week with the appointment of a local construction firm. The project will see 52,569 installed over the next six to nine months. It is projected that the solar farm will produce roughly 20 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year. All NYSEG customers will be eligible to join the solar farm. This includes renters and households that would other wise not be able to install roof-top solar. Solar Farms New York will be making a presentation to the Norwich Town Council on July 8th.

Leading the Charge in NY Solar Farms

The first phases of the project are already underway after being approved by the town. The motion to approve the project was unopposed. Town Supervisor David Evans explained his land was part of the lease when the project was first proposed. As such, the supervisor decided to recuse himself from the approval process. “They hope to have the project finished by early fall. This is a great thing for our area and county. It is clean energy and will add more to a small tax base. Local people will have a chance to take part,” said Evans on Monday.

“The Town of Norwich has shown amazing leadership in New York State’s effort to replace all fossil fuel electricity generation by 2040,” said Jeffrey Mayer, CEO of Solar Farms NY. “Thanks to the Evans family, enough solar panels will be planted to provide the community and its households decades of clean, renewable energy to one of the country’s most beautiful regions,” he added. The solar farm would be built on about 79 acres located on 5050 State Highway 23 in Chenango County.

Mayer explained that the solar electricity produced by the Norwich solar farm will go directly to the NYSEG grid, in accordance with New York state rules. “All NYSEG customers benefit from more renewable energy production,” he said, “but only our members will enjoy guaranteed savings on their monthly bills.”

Community Solar Farm Breaks Ground

Burrell’s Excavating Inc is the company that has been hired as the civil engineers that will prep the site for construction. Barrell’s, a family owned business, street and road reconstruction projects in the region. With their high-tech equipment, they’re able to navigate challenging terrain for commercial and residential projects.

According to Mayer, the community solar farm will be built on four contiguous farms owned by members of the Evans family. The yield of the first farm has already been sold out with NYSEG customers of the Norwich area. “We expect the farms to be completed in early 2020, less than a year from now, at which time they will begin to deliver valuable savings to our members,” Mayer added.

Solar Farms like the one at Norwich sell their electricity to NYSEG in compliance with New York’s community solar program. In turn, credits are put on customers’ bills. Because of this, customers pay Solar Farms New York for their electricity instead of utility companies. Solar Farms New York will bill customers 95% of the value of the credits they receive from NYSEG, resulting in a 5% savings on their solar credits.

The community solar project will also benefit local governmental entities in the form of payments in lieu of property taxes. Approximately $1,415,000 will be paid to the Town of Norwich, Chenango County, over the life of the project.

]]>https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/07/08/solar-farm-norwich-ny/feed/0706Improving Solar by Mimicking Naturehttps://elitesolarpros.com/2019/07/05/improving-solar-by-mimicking-nature/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=improving-solar-by-mimicking-nature https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/07/05/improving-solar-by-mimicking-nature/#respondFri, 05 Jul 2019 15:11:47 +0000https://elitesolar.wpengine.com/?p=537Scientists at NCSU have recently published research that may change the way we see and use solar energy. The current standard in solar is synthetic semiconductors. You’ve seen them before; either on your neighbor’s roof, the top of a high-rise, or even on calculators. They work with incredible efficiency to convert beams of sunlight into […]

]]>Scientists at NCSU have recently published research that may change the way we see and use solar energy.

The current standard in solar is synthetic semiconductors. You’ve seen them before; either on your neighbor’s roof, the top of a high-rise, or even on calculators. They work with incredible efficiency to convert beams of sunlight into useable energy, and are in use all across the globe. Solar continues to grow in popularity, and the technology is quick to follow.

While it’s usually synthetic semiconductors used to convert energy, these scientists have instead used chlorophyll to successfully mimic the way a plant converts sunlight into food. Natural based semiconductors have the potential to be more cost effective and more environmentally friendly than traditional solar. These panels would also be flexible, allowing them to be installed almost anywhere.

While using a natural-based semiconductor may have many benefits, we are still quite a ways away from seeing this type of solar in regular use. Currently, scientists have only successfully used chlorophyll to convert light into energy in a lab environment. They are hoping their research today will pave the way for a future where we can implement this technology in our daily lives to further reduce our footprint.

]]>https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/07/05/improving-solar-by-mimicking-nature/feed/0537New York Passes Ambitious Climate Billhttps://elitesolarpros.com/2019/07/03/new-york-passes-ambitious-climate-bill/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-york-passes-ambitious-climate-bill https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/07/03/new-york-passes-ambitious-climate-bill/#respondWed, 03 Jul 2019 14:00:05 +0000https://elitesolar.wpengine.com/?p=669Renewable energy advocates everywhere are celebrating the state of New York passing a major climate bill. Called the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the law aims to radically curb New York’s emissions by more than tripling the state’s solar capacity and promoting the development of off-shore wind turbines. While New York currently produces more […]

]]>Renewable energy advocates everywhere are celebrating the state of New York passing a major climate bill. Called the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the law aims to radically curb New York’s emissions by more than tripling the state’s solar capacity and promoting the development of off-shore wind turbines.

While New York currently produces more than 1.7 gigawatts of solar power, this new bill aims to boost that to 6 gigawatts by 2025. This is an ambitious target that falls in line with the state’s goal of being emission-free by 2040. Sean Gallagher, vice president of state affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association, was quoted as saying “This legislation mandates enough local solar to power 1 million households by 2025…this legislation also establishes one of the most aggressive clean energy mandates in the country.”

Achieving this goal would put New York ahead of even well-known progressive states like California, which has committed to reaching emission-free status by 2045. “It’s definitely the most progressive bill that we’ve seen anywhere,’’ Miles Farmer, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in an interview. That statement comes as a host of other states make similar pledges to implement clean energy. In April, Puerto Rico passed legislation to source all of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2050. New Mexico, Hawaii, Nevada, and Washington have all made similar pledges already, along with hundreds of cities and counties across the nation.

The new measure would also give New York’s regulators new direction that may lead to stricter pollution limits for power plants, as well as incentives to phase out natural gas and oil from home heating systems. While this raises some concerns around the potential increase in manufacturing costs, a report released earlier this year by Vote Solar estimates that achieving the bill’s solar goal will sustain more than 11,000 jobs between now and 2025.

What do you think of New York’s new climate bill? Will it affect you personally? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below!

]]>https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/07/03/new-york-passes-ambitious-climate-bill/feed/0669Lightyear One – The Solar Powered Carhttps://elitesolarpros.com/2019/07/01/lightyear-one-the-solar-powered-car/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lightyear-one-the-solar-powered-car https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/07/01/lightyear-one-the-solar-powered-car/#respondMon, 01 Jul 2019 15:31:53 +0000https://elitesolar.wpengine.com/?p=663A Dutch company has debuted a solar powered electric vehicle (EV) that is capable of traveling up to 450 miles on a single charge. The Lightyear One was officially unveiled Tuesday, June 25th at an event in Katwijk, Southern Netherlands. The prototype was developed by a team hailing from Eindhoven University of Technology. Lightyear, the […]

Lightyear, the company behind the car, was founded in 2016 by members of Solar Team Eindhoven. The team has won a number of solar-powered car races with what’s considered the world’s first family car powered by solar energy. The Lightyear aims to bring a road-ready solar vehicle to the consumer market.

Innovating for the Future

The Lightyear One can accommodate five adults, with about 28 cubic feet of storage space. The 16.5 square feet of solar panels -mounted on the roof and hood- provide the solar batteries with roughly 7.5 miles per hour of exposure to sun. While this may not seem too impressive, it can also be charged at regular EV stations. This includes 60 kW (fast-charging) which will charge the car up to 315 miles of range in an hour. It can also charge up to about 250 miles of range overnight with standard (European) 230V sockets.

The built in solar panels allow the car to charge while it’s stationary. Additionally, they provide a “boost” to power while in motion. During a four-hour drive, the Lightyear one is projected to collect nearly 31 miles worth of extra charge. If the drive pulls over for a pit stop or lunch, the vehicle will continue to charge! Exact range and mileage will vary depending on a number of factors including climate and driving frequency. However, the company estimates that someone driving the national average of 20,000 km (about 12.4k miles) per year “in the cloudy Netherlands” would get around 40 percent of their mileage from solar annually.

Facing Challenges

The amount of energy required to power a vehicle weighing upwards of one to two tons is a big challenge in developing solar vehicles. The nature and size of vehicles provide limited space for solar panels. Because of this, Lightyear has worked to optimize the car’s weight and structure, using aluminum and carbon fiber materials. They are also fine tuning aero-dynamics to reduce drag in an effort to lower energy consumption.

“Our job at the aerodynamics team is to ensure that the air will move along the curves of the car as smoothly as possible, because we stop the air from moving in swirls, into holes, or into interstices, we reduce friction between the car and the air. We want the car to cut through the air just like a raindrop – the ultimate example of an aerodynamic object.” – Annemiek Koers, Aerodynamics Engineer at Lightyear.

The development of Lightyear One has been no secret. At the official unveiling on the 25th, the company announced that anyone can now reserve one of their cars for a fee of €119,000 ($135,000) – though the full price is actually €150,000 ($170,000). 100 units have already been reserved despite the 2021 release date. The company says that the cost reflects the novelty of the technology. They hope that future iterations will help bring the price tag down.

“Since new technology has a high unit cost, we have to start in an exclusive market,” Lightyear CEO and co-founder Lex Hoefsloot added. “Lightyear One is the first long-range solar car and has staggering specifications. The next models we plan to develop will have a significantly lower purchase price. In addition, future models will be provided to autonomous and shared car fleets, so the purchase price can be divided amongst a large group of users.”

Charging Forward

The EV market is still small compared to petroleum and diesel, but it is growing. The cumulative EV sales hit the 4 million mark last year according to Bloomberg NEF. That doesn’t seem like much with over a billion cars globally, but the broader picture paints a promising trend. It took around five years to sell the first million electric cars and just a year and a half to shift the second million. Furthermore, it only took 6 months to pass 4 million electric vehicles sold after hitting the 3 million milestone.

Companies are starting to significantly invest into EV charging infrastructure, with fossil fuel giants like BP and Shell acquiring charging network providers. Additionally, efforts to develop infrastructure for charging vehicles as they move are being seen. For example, Sweden is developing “electrified roads”. While solar powered cars are not a new concept, they have yet to reach the commercial market at any scale. With a range of up to 450 miles, Lightyear hopes to accelerate the uptake of EVs globally – with solar energy as the draw – by alleviating one of the core sticking points for many would-be EV converts.

“The main goal of the car is to fill in where electric cars fall short,” Hoefsloot added. “Research has shown that range and the lack of charging options are still the top concerns that people have when considering electric cars. With Lightyear One, we want to show that our technology enabled us to build one of the most sustainable cars on the market, that also offers great convenience.”

The sun and ice cream go hand-in-hand. Nothing feels like summertime more than enjoying a cool frozen treat in the hot sun. And who doesn’t love the convenience and nostalgia of roaming ice cream trucks, with their bright colors and catchy jingles?

Of course, times are catching up for ice cream trucks too! As electric vehicles gain popularity and society transitions away from fossil fuels, the energy needs of ice cream trucks present a unique problem. Refrigeration requires a lot of energy, and no one wants melted ice cream! Traditional gas or diesel fueled ice cream trucks keep their refrigerators running using the motor as it idles. While it’s effective at keeping your popsicles cold, it’s far from good for the environment.

Fortunately, Nissan has designed a new prototype vehicle meant to change that! The Nissan ice cream van is a zero-emission vehicle and uses second life batteries. It’s based on Nissan’s e-NV200 electric light commercial vehicle. Unlike the fossil-fueled trucks that keep their refrigerators running by idling the engine, this vehicle uses a zero-emissions drive train along with “second life” EV batteries to keep the coolers at a low temp.

The motor of the van runs on a 40 kWh battery. However, its internal appliances run on a different system that Nissan calls ROAM. The ROAM system is a portable power-pack made up of lithium ion cells that are harvested from Nissan’s first generation of electric vehicles. This is why the company uses the term “second life” to describe the ROAM system. This also is beneficial for the environment because the batteries are all recycled!

At this point, you might be wondering why we’re so excited for this vehicle here at Elite Energy. The answer, of course, is solar panels! The new prototype has several roof-mounted solar panels to help keep the truck stay charged all day long. As an incredible bonus, you can even use the panels to generate power when the van isn’t out and about. You can then sell that energy back to the grid, just like you would with your home solar panel system!

To help promote their new prototype, Nissan partnered with ice cream maker Mackie’s of Scotland, who use wind and solar power to make all of their sweet treats. They’re the most popular ice cream maker in Scotland, and they also aim to be Scotland’s “greenest” by becoming completely energy-independent. At the time this post was published, they’re exporting 4.5 times more to the grid than they’re consuming. Now that’s some ice cream you can feel good about!

What do you think of solar powered ice cream trucks? What about solar vehicles in general? Let us know in the comments!

]]>https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/06/28/nissans-solar-powered-ice-cream-truck/feed/0656U.S. Solar Flourishing Despite Trump’s Tariffshttps://elitesolarpros.com/2019/06/26/u-s-solar-flourishing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=u-s-solar-flourishing https://elitesolarpros.com/2019/06/26/u-s-solar-flourishing/#respondWed, 26 Jun 2019 14:38:43 +0000https://elitesolar.wpengine.com/?p=657Clean energy is on the up and up again, and the U.S. solar industry is benefiting as a result. According to a new report, this year is expected to see solar installations increase despite a drop in installations last year. Clean Energy on the Rise The report from the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood […]

]]>Clean energy is on the up and up again, and the U.S. solar industry is benefiting as a result. According to a new report, this year is expected to see solar installations increase despite a drop in installations last year.

Clean Energy on the Rise

The report from the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, a market research group, was published June 4th. It shoes that 2.7 gigawatts of solar capacity had been added to the grid in the first quarter of 2019. That makes it the strongest in the U.S. solar industry’s history! The report projects new solar installations should grow 25 percent from 2018, to 13.3 gigawatts.The bounce back from the 2 percent dip last year was driven by large-scale utility solar projects. These types of projects account for 61 percent of the first quarter’s growth.

This marks a significant change from what was expected last year after President Trump’s announcement for tariffs on imported solar cells and modules. The industry was worried at the time that the tariffs would hinder solar, especially after 2017’s job losses. However, solar installations rose past the 2 million mark this year, which is a marker worth celebrating.

“We’ve now gone a full five quarters with the tariffs being in place, and the market has seemed to have really settled down and has grown quite robustly,” said Colin Smith, senior analyst with Wood Mackenzie, to Earther. “Now, we’re in a position where we’re seeing a lot of market growth beyond what we initially expected a year ago or simply overcome any impacts of the tariffs.”

Areas of Growth

The report notes that residential rooftop solar is seeing some growth. Meanwhile, non-residential solar is facing a decline. This refers to solar panels found on commercial and industrial facilities, as well as community solar projects. The real saviors are utility solar projects that feed into the grid. The report notes that this sector should grow by 46 percent this year from 2018. In particular, this is attributed to large solar projects in Florida and the Carolinas. Florida has been leading the charge in solar installations so far this year, followed by California.

The industry expects this growth to continue well past 2019, as well. Several U.S. utilities – from Dominion to Duke Energy – have solar projects in the works. These projects are projected to become reality by 2024. Furthermore, non-residential solar is expected to see some growth in the coming years. The authors of the report expect community solar to make up close to 30 percent of non-residential solar capacity by 2023. Additionally, another roughly 20 percent will come from solar-plus-storage as energy storage starts to gain some steam.

Helping Hands

Corporations are also helping fuel solar’s growth, said Smith. Companies like Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google are procuring hundreds of megawatts-if not gigawatts-of solar to help fuel their internal renewable energy targets.

“In years past, we were really looking at distributed generation so residential and commercial rooftop projects as one segment,” Smith told Earther, “but we’re now seeing this emerging segment that’s really driving growth.”

Currently, solar makes up less than 2 percent of the U.S. energy generation. However, as costs have gone down solar has grown more than 1700 percent since 2008 according to the Department of Energy. Renewables, in general, are set to be the “fastest growing source of U.S. electricity generation for at least the next two years,” per the Energy Information Administration. Meanwhile, coal generation has been falling; it’s currently only 28 percent of U.S. energy generation.

Is this enough?

Still, solar and wind energy may not be enough to meet targets set by the Paris Agreement according to E&E News reports. Other renewable clean energy types may be necessary during winter months when energy demands are highest. Governments may need to step in to ensure that more research is done on nuclear, renewable hydrogen, biogas, and carbon capture. If we’re to break our dependency on fossil fuels, we need to find ways to bridge the gaps if times come when wind and solar cannot produce enough energy.